Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB) provided financial and participant support to the 514th Ayvaz Dede Events, which were completed with a ceremony held on 30 June 2024 in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The ceremony held this year was attended by Turkey’s Sarajevo Ambassador Sadık Babür Girgin, TDBB Turkey members Bağcılar Deputy Mayor Mehmet Şirin and Bağcılar Municipality Director of Technical Affairs Öztürk Aslan, representatives of the Islamic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina and many people from different countries, especially Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey.
The 514th Ayvaz Dede Festival, held in Bosnia and Herzegovina in memory of Ayvaz Dede from Akhisar, known as one of the most important symbols of Bosnians’ acceptance of Islam, started in the village of Karaula and ended with the noon prayer in the town of Prusac.
As part of the festivities, thousands of people watched the concert of the Ministry of National Defense Mehter Band and the parade of more than 300 horsemen in Prusac. Bosnians also accompanied the song “Sehidski Rastanak (Farewell of the Martyr)” performed by the Mehter Band.
The festivities ended with the noon prayer after reading the Quran and praying. Travnik Mufti Ahmed Adilovic touched upon the importance of praying for Muslims and said that this is how they show their worship and belief in Allah. Stating that their friends coming from Turkey honor them every year, Adilovic thanked especially the Ministry of National Defense Mehter Band and TDBB.
Who is Ayvaz Dede?
Akhisarlı Ayvaz Dede from Manisa, one of the Khorasan’s mystics who came to Bosnia and Herzegovina from Anatolia seeking guidance like Sarı Saltuk, came to the mountain in the town of Prusac (Akhisar), where there was a drought more than 500 years ago and which hosts festivals today, and prayed there for 40 days and 40 nights.
It is narrated that Ayvaz Dede, who prayed for the water to the region where the people suffered from famine and the animals perished from thirst, in his dream saw two rams colliding with each other and when he woke up, he found the split mountain and the flowing river in front of him. After the incident, as the region got water and the drought ended, the people of the region, who heard about this miraculous event, converted to Islam.
